FIN 691 – Financial Technology
Problem Report – Assignment and Grading Rubric
Assignment: Write a 500 word paper describing a problem or need in financial services. Write it as if you were presenting to an audience to persuade them of the importance of the project. This could be a TED talk , a pitch to colleagues to start a project, a plea to donors or testimony to policymakers. Be passionate and have evidence.
The problem can be associated with any segment of finance or market. The problem can be economic, for example borrowing costs are too high, or otherwise, for example lack of individual privacy. Focus on the problem, not the possible technological solutions or any companies that are trying to solve the problem.
Due Date: Thursday, Mar 24. Submit on Canvas. I’ll take 10% off the grade for every day late. No papers will be accepted more than three days late.
Grading Rubric:
First 80% – Content (objective): Each of the items listed below should be discussed in the paper.
The paper should be proceeded by a list of each item with a one sentence summary. The summary should not be included in the 500 words.
Item: Example summary statement:
Problem: Borrowing cost are too high for short term consumer loans
Sector: Funding – consumer lending
Market: Individuals
Example: In KY lenders can legally lend at over 400%
Size: 17 million people used a payday loan in 2017.
Evidence: Pew Study on Short Term Credit (with citation)
Why problem persists: It is hard to make short-term loans profitable due to size and term.
Last 20% – Persuasiveness (subjective): Is the paper persuasive. Would it spur the reader to either be sympathetic to the problem or to act to solve the problem?
